Google tax: European Commission sets out new proposals to crack down on tax avoidance January 28, 2016 The European Commission will today put forward new proposals to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance, as UK politicians continue to spar over Google’s tax payments. Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs, is expected to lay out a series of legally-binding measures intended to close loopholes in [...]
Household spending power slows to 14-month low, Asda income tracker shows January 28, 2016 The average household income grew at its slowest rate in 14 months, a new survey has found, due to a slowdown in wage growth and a slight increase in inflation. According Asda's Income Tracker published today, consumers were £13 – or 7.2 per cent – better off year-on-year in December with an average of £194 of [...]
eBay share price dives 10 per cent as profits and revenues slip January 27, 2016 Shares in online retailer eBay have plunged by more than 12 per cent in after hours trading, after the company revealed a 28 per cent drop in profit for the fourth quarter of 2015, down to $523m (£367m) from $729m at the same time in the previous year. This comes despite the firm swinging from a loss [...]
PayPal share price jumps as it posts 15 per cent revenue growth in 2015 as mobile usage grows January 27, 2016 Online payment firm PayPal has reported a 17 per cent increase in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2015, up to $2.6bn (£1.8bn), while revenue for the year grew by 15 per cent to $9.2bn. The company also saw an increase in the number of customers using its services on a mobile device, similarly to [...]
UK and Ireland among 31 countries signed up to OECD tax co-operation agreement January 27, 2016 The OECD has announced that 31 countries have signed up to a new tax co-operation agreement to enable automatic sharing of country-by-country information. Representatives from the 31 countries, which include the UK, Ireland and Australia, signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) at a ceremony today. “Country-by-country Reporting will have an immediate impact in boosting international [...]
Boeing share price drops as it cuts production and forecasts earnings dip for 2016 January 27, 2016 Boeing's share price fell by as much as 10 per cent today, after the plane manufacturer reported a four per cent dip in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2015, although full-year revenue grew by six per cent. The figures In the last three months of last year, the group's revenues fell to $23.6bn (£16.6bn) [...]
Yorkshire Building Society Group to close branches and rebrand Barnsley and Chelsea building societies January 27, 2016 Yorkshire Building Society Group (YSB) has announced plans to close a number of branches, as part of changes to two of its high street brands. Barnsley Building Society and Chelsea Building Society branches will both be rebranded Yorkshire Building Society, and in 18 locations where YSB currently has two branches under either of the brands, [...]
US Fed leaves interest rate on hold amid global market volatility January 27, 2016 The US Federal Reserve has voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent, following the first rate rise for almost a decade in December. All but one member voted to leave the benchmark rate that banks offer to lend to each other overnight, known as the Federal Funds rate, between 0.25 per cent [...]
Shell share price falls as shareholders vote in favour of Shell and BG Group January 27, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell shareholders gave the oil giant's acquisition of smaller rival BG Group the green light at a general meeting today, paving the way for the biggest energy deal in decades. Analysts had widely expected Shell shareholders to approve the £47bn mega-deal, despite low oil prices stoking concern over value for money. Of those that voted, 83 per [...]
Netflix down in parts of the UK, Europe and the US January 27, 2016 Online TV and film streaming service Netflix is being reported as offline around parts of the UK and Europe. The service is also unavailable in parts of the US. Users have taken to social media to report outages, with the site status checker Down Detector recording problems centred in Northern Europe. Last week a global outage of social [...]